After successfully joining forces for the new John Wayne 100th Birthday DVD promotion, Warner Home Video and Paramount Home Entertainment have come up with a blockbuster Elvis Presley promotion that will see WB releasing Elvis:The Hollywood Collection with six feature films and Paramount releasing The Lights! Action! Elvis! collection consisting of eight major features starring the King. Additionally, several major Elvis concert films will be released and coordinated with a festival relating to Presley to be held at Graceland that will be held between August 11-18. Warners will be screening Elvis films on the grounds of Graceland during the festival. Continue reading for the full official press release.
On August 7, Warner Home Video
(WHV)
and Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE) will
again join forces, this time to celebrate the life of Elvis Presley, and
commemorate the 30th anniversary of “The King’s†passing. The man
who made blue suede shoes, hound dogs and hip swivels an indelible part of
America’s pop culture will come alive again as the two studios pool their DVD
sales and marketing resources to release a total of 24 Elvis Presley films. The
lead WHV titles in the promotion are Deluxe Editions
of Viva
Las Vegas and
Jailhouse Rock and
2 Disc Special Editions of
Elvis: That’s the Way
It Is and This is Elvis (making its DVD
debut). The lead Paramount
offering is The
Lights! Action! Elvis! Collection presented in a collectible blue
suede case.
A series of major events
honoring this rock ‘n’ roll icon are being planned throughout this year, the
highlight of which is ‘Elvis Week 2007,’ taking place in Memphis from August 11
through August 18. As part of the festivities, Warner Home Video will be
participating in two “Elvis Music and Movies†nights on the grounds of
Graceland
Mansion, with outdoor
screenings of Viva Las
Vegas on August 13 and Elvis: That’s the Way It
Is on August 14. Sold-out attendance is expected, as Graceland
is the most famous home in America, after the White House, attracting some
600,000 visitors annually, and having been designated a National Historic
Landmark in 2006.
WHV also will debut
Elvis:
The Hollywood Collection, containing six Elvis films never before on DVD – Charro, Girl Happy, Kissin’
Cousins, Stay Away, Joe, Tickle
Me and Live A Little, Love A
Little. The films will be available as a set, as well as
individually.
PHE is
packaging eight classic Presley titles in a collectible blue suede case.
The Lights! Action!
Elvis! Collection will include King Creole, G.I. Blues, Blue
Hawaii,
Roustabout, Girls! Girls! Girls!, Fun In Acapulco, Paradise,
Hawaiian Style and
Easy Come, Easy
Go. Considered by
many to be Elvis’ finest acting performance, King Creole was also Elvis’ personal favorite of all
his films and was directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca).
G.I.
Blues was the
first film that Elvis made after returning from his stint in the army and
features the all-time classic song “Blue Suede Shoesâ€. Elvis’ highest grossing
film, Blue
Hawaii, was filmed in part on location in the Hawaiian Islands, as were Girls! Girls!
Girls!, which was nominated for a Golden Globe® for Best Motion
Picture—Musical, and Paradise, Hawaiian Style.
Elvis co-starred with a string of notable actresses including Ursula Andress in
Fun In
Acapulco, Barbara Stanwyck in Roustabout and Elsa
Lanchester (best known for her role in Bride
of Frankenstein) in Easy Come, Easy
Go. All eight
must-own titles are packaged together for the first time and feature sensational
musical performances of beloved songs including “Hard Headed Womanâ€, “Can’t Help
Falling In Love†and “Return To Senderâ€.
More
biographical information is available at the official Presley Web site, www.elvis.com.
TO ORDER THE WARNER BROS ELVIS COLLECTION DISCOUNTED AT AMAZON CLICK HERE.
TO ORDER THE ELVIS- THAT'S THE WAY IT IS NEW 2 DISC SPECIAL EDITION DISCOUNTED AT AMAZON CLICK HERE.
READ WRITER TOM LISANTI'S SERIES OF INTERVIEWS WITH ELVIS' SEXY CO-STARS IN CINEMA RETRO ISSUES #6,7 AND 8.